BEIJING - When the Dalai Lama's name comes up in China's state-run English-language media, the words "splittist", "evil" and other adjectives usually fall somewhere in the same sentence.  Who can forget the Party Leader in Tibet who characterised the Dalai Lama as "a wolf wrapped in a monk’s robe; a monster with a human face but the heart of a beast."

Ask any Chinese person and you'll likely hear a torrent of complaints and criticisms of the Dalai Lama at worst, or deep suspicion and cynicism at best.  A few correspondents have tackled the potential issue of the Dalai Lama returning to China following his concession that he will accept Communist rule in all of Tibet.

Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times has written repeatedly about the possibility of the Dalai Lama returning to China on May 12 next year to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Sichuan Province.

After having spent four years in China, and having just witnesssed these security-blanked Olympic Games, my gut tells me China's not willing to risk anything at any cost when it comes to potential instability - which is what the Dalai Lama represents.  China is still aware the Dalai Lama commands deep loyalty among the Tibetan people, something that gives the Communist leadership in Zhongnanhai anxiety.  It seems to this observer that it would be simply too dangerous to have him return.

That being said, I hope it happens.  And if it does, I'd like to be there when it happens.  The question now is to take a look at state-run media to get a vague idea of what leadership might be thinking.  There have been a couple instances lately (which sadly, I couldn't find) where the party has used less assertive language in describing the Dalai Lama.

Now we have this article from China Radio International.  To be fair, this may have been published online in error -- although the date published was August 8.  But rarely do state-run media websites describe the Dalai Lama thusly:

The Dalai Lama is respected worldwide for his peaceful philosophy.

And...

Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is revered as a hero by his people and respected world-wide for his peaceful philosophy.

Now, I am taking these phrases slightly out of context.  The article is about a division within Buddhism which has resulted in the Dalai Lama speaking out against the Shugden sect.  (This issue, while under the radar of most, recently erupted in protests in New York City while the Dalai Lama was speaking at the Radio City Music Hall).  Still, the article is strangely fair to the Dalai Lama and even references the government-in-exile in Dharamsala without using quotations.

Is the article up in error?  Is this benign?  Or can something be read into it?